Ardee Concert Band Win highest award of the competition
We ardee Concert Band performed at the Regional Qualifiers for the National Concert Band Festival, held on Sunday 19th November 2017 inNewman RC College, Broadway Oldham, Greater Manchester, UK. We took part in The Community Wind Band Class. This section is classed for bands with players of all ages and all levels of ability.
The mighty 44 strong band and our supporters from the wee county travelled across the Irish Sea by ferry to take home the highest award of the competition. We placed 1st in our section and received a Platinum award for our outstanding efforts. In the words of one adjudicator; “One of the finest community band performances we have had in some time” . Brendan added “You are a credit to community banding, with 2nd and 3rd level students, as well as adults, giving a truly memorable performance today. Thank you for your patience, commitment, and fabulous musicianship!”. we played two pieces under the baton of our wonderful Musical Director Brendan Breslin; Four Noble Truths by Philip Spark and New York by Nigel Hess.
The band decided to travel to compete in the regional qualifiers for the UK’s North West Regional Band Festival for a number of reasons. It’s a chance to play in a different type of competition than our Annual Irish Nationals as it is graded rather than a points system and it is also an opportunity to get away as a group whilst still having a serious musical focus. It was also a chance to test the band and its individual abilities within a different environment against different contestants.
“This is a wonderful achievement for the band, to play against bands that we don’t know anything about and leave our music stamp on the UK Band Scene”, said Band PRO Sinead Nutley. Honorary Band President Austin Nevin announced the win to the band’s weekly Bingo goers on Sunday evening last, who met the news with rapturous applause. He thanked the patrons of the Weekly Sunday Night Bingo for their continued support as the Bingo is the Bands main income earner and it’s because of them that the band is in the fortunate position it is in today.
Ardee Concert Band are supported by the Arts Council, Music Network, and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
Youth Members share Field of Scream experience at Causey Farm
Yesterday, 37 Young members of the Ardee Concert Band made the journey by bus off to Causey farm in Meath for an team building activity packed day as a treat for all their hard work and dedication to music within the band. We started in the kitchen and after throwing flour and eggs, we finally got down to making soda bread, most of which I think was eaten on the bus on the way Home! We became Irish dancers for a while as well as watched and participated in a sheep dog demonstration. We met, fed and held the animals! Then continued on to test our inner Sat Nav in the corn field maze! The day was completed by our members diving into the Bog! Safe to say that we brought half the bog home with us!! Well done to our members who jumped in feet first (literally!!) Great day had by all!! Many Many thanks to Clodagh for her amazing organising skills in putting the trip together and to all the helpers on the day too! 🙂
Ardee Concert Band are supported by the Arts Council, Music Network, and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
Ardee Concert Band to travel to NCBF Competition in Oldham
The band has decided to travel to compete in the regional qualifiers for the UK’s North West Regional Band Festival to be held on Sunday 19th November 2017 in Oldham, Greater Manchester, Departing Ardee by coach on Sat 18th Nov. More Details Later …
Ardee Concert Band are supported by the Arts Council, Music Network, and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
Farewell Our Fond Friend – Anthony Mc Ardle, RIP
28th May 1959 – 20th September 2017
Today September 30th, we played at the Remembrance Mass in the church of the nativity of our Lady, Ardee Church to remember our friend and former member Anthony McArdle who died in Australia on September 20th. He will be sadly missed by us all. We send our whole heart sympathies to his family both here in Ireland and in Australia. RIP. 
Anthony played Clarinet & later also Saxophone in the band from the early 70’s until the early 90’s. He conducted the band on may occasions in the 80’s and was influential in changing the repertoire towards more modern pieces Pop/jazz including film music. It was at his instigation that the band changed it’s name from Ardee Military Band to Ardee Concert Band. Anthony was a very talented musician and helped nurture the up and coming talent within the band along with the other instrumental tutors of the time. He often played with us or conducted whenever he came home on holidays from Australia. Anthony last conducted the band at the Christmas Day mass in Ardee Parish Church in 2015. He will be sadly missed by all in Ardee Concert Band.
Gold awards All round as prospective new members watch on! ?
Our Awards night went off spectacularly on Thursday 14th September at 7.30pm. We amalgamated the night as our awards night and enrollment of new members on the same night.
This gave the new members an idea of the stages of progression of which they’ll make their journey through Ardee concert Band from Recorder group right through to the award winning Senior band!
Our recorder group for 16/17 and Junior band performed in their respective groups and after their performance each member received their certificate of progression. Our youth band also performed and after their performance they and other band members in attendance who sat grade exams in May received their certificates of excellence from band Chairman Mr. Dermot Murray.
All in all it was a great night of entertainment and with many new enrollments Ardee Concert Band has a secure future in Ardee for another 157 years!!
Ardee Concert Band are supported by the Arts Council, Music Network, and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
Ardee entertain on Bray Bandstand ☂?
Our senior band had a great day on Bray Bandstand on Sunday last July 30th as we played to the public on their beach chairs. Although it was a bit overcast the sun did shine out on us and even a shower of rain but this didn’t detear the audience as they say under their umbrellas and braved the shower until the sun came back out!
Ardee Concert Band are supported by the Arts Council, Music Network, and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
?? Ardee’s Delight ??
On Saturday last 1/7/17, the number 7 was a very lucky number for Ardee Concert Band. 38 members took to the stage for the 38th Annual South of Ireland Band Championships in Clonakilty in Sunny West Cork. We scooped the 1st prize award in the Senior section. There were 30 bands from all over Ireland in 3 sections, 7 in Junior, 16 in Intermediate and 7 in Senior taking part on Saturday.
We Received 6 other special awards including Best bass, Woodwind and Percussion sections, Best Celebratory piece (Sarah’s Delight – Soloist Robert Finegan on Soprano Saxophone, ably assisted by Gerry Farrell on accordion and Jenny Satelle on bodhran), a Special Adjudicators Award for Aisling Reilly for her beautiful clarinet playing in An Irish Ayre for Winds and Best repertoire of the day, bringing a total of 7 Trophies back up the road. We’re going to need a bigger trophy cabinet now in our busy as ever bandroom.
We played four own choice pieces and received standing ovations from the packed hall at the end of two of our pieces, Sarah’s Delight and The Parting Glass Both of which were arranged by Ardee’s conductor Brendan Breslin. The Parting Glass featured three Soloists Connor Campbell on vocals, Donal Kellegher on pipes and Conor Horan on drum.
Adjudicator for the day, Philip Harper, conductor of one of the Best Brass Bands in the world, the Cory Band from Wales awarded us 95 Points out of a possible 100 for a performance that was “A truly inspired and emotional performance from Ardee Concert Band” as quoted by Band Musical Director Brendan Breslin
These amazing triumphs tops our 2 already claimed competition prizes this year at the IABCB National Championships in Navan where we Secured a 2nd place and Best Brass Section; bringing our accumulative wins to 9 so far for 2017!
Senior Section Result:
1st prize Ardee Concert Band 95, 2nd prize Lourdes Brass Band 90 and 3rd prize Ballymore Eustace Concert Band 88
#INTHEBAG #ACB #CLONAKILTY #2017
Links to our Four Award Winning Pieces:
The Civic.
An Irish March composed by Brendan Breslin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYvS-Q1nG7I
Irish Ayre for Winds composed by Warren Barker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6HP8LjAKX4
Sarah’s Delight, Two Irish Traditional Tunes arranged by Brendan Breslinn featuring Robert Finegan on Soprano Sax, Gerry Farrell on accordion and Jenny Satelle on bodhran
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWGLKep0H5E
The Parting Glass, arranged by Brendan Breslin, featuring Connor Campbell on vocals, Donal Kellegher on pipes and Conor Horan on drum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DcflEpsoEg
Busy Weekend for Ardee Concert Band
National RÁS, enterprise exhibition, May Procession, Grade Exams, Parading the Womens’ Rugby World Cup
IABCB National Championships
Pictured below is band chairman Dermot Murray receiving the Best Brass Section in Section 1 award from Colum Dunleavy.
Under the ever striving baton of Brendan Breslin, Our energetic and enthusiastic 51-strong band performed an own choice piece in Fribourg by Derek Bourgeois and a test piece – East Coast Pictures by Nigel Hess.
Receiving a score of 138 from the Competitions Adjudicator for the weekend Archie Hutchison, we were delighted with the result and even more so with his comments. He noted how much we; Ardee were a band to admire with musicality and effectiveness throughout their pieces.
The band also scooped Best Brass Section at the Solstice Arts Centre to add to their ever growing trophy cabinet at their state-of-the-art bandroom at the Bohemian Centre on Ashwalk in Ardee.
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Ardee Concert Band St Patrick’s Day Ardee Concert Band has led the Parade in Ardee every year since it started in 1968. It is our biggest audience by far every year. It is extremely important to the band as an organisation, as we have every member of the senior band on the march with us on St Patrick’s Day. 2017 was no different and in addition to our formation we added our Youth band into the ranks for the first time in the bands history.
“The young boys and girls did a tremendous job and performed an outstanding march for their very first ever time marching and Infront of such a crowd. They do everyone proud; from their parents to the whole town of Ardee, anywhere we go. We want to do ourselves as an organisation proud at every event but today especially as we get to show the whole town what we do best”, said PRO Sinéad Nutley.
Photo Credit: Adrian Crawley Photograghy It was a pity about the weather, however we didn’t let it dampen our spirits as everyone gathered back at Ardee Concert Band HQ for pizzas and a mineral, as a reward for a brilliant effort all round. It was a great day for one and all as part of the best Community-Involved group in Ardee and we sure had a wonderful La Feile Padráig. There’s no rest now for the Senior Band as we continue in our twice weekly intense rehearsals, as part of our preparation for the IABCB National Championships on April 9th in the Solstice Arts centre, Navan. Ardee Concert Band are supported by the Arts Council, music Network and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. |
Prizewinners of the recent NE Region of IABCB Solo & Ensemble Comptitions 19/2/2017
| Ensemble Competition | |||
| Band | Players | Music | |
| Under 14 | |||
| 1 | Drogheda | Eabha Brereton and Tara Murphy | Pentacussion |
| 2 | Kingscourt | Aine & Katie Byrne | Allegretto |
| 3 | Ardee | Ronan Tallon, Davin Starkie, Claragh Cunningham | The Minstral Boy |
| Under 18 | |||
| 1 | Kingscourt | Niamh & Sinead Byrne | Poco Presto |
| Intermediate | |||
| 1 | INF | Annie Rennicks, Darren Conneely, Amy Reilly, Megan Lynch | Mark the Merry Elves |
| Open | |||
| 1 | Ardee | Dermot Murray, John Gaynor, Tim O’Callaghan, Rachel Goodwin, Vincent McArdle, James Walsh, Lorcan Conlon, Kevin Reilly, Paul Callan, Mark McLoughlin | Three Brass Cats |
| Solos | ||||
| Name | Band | Inst. | Piece | |
| Under 12 | ||||
| 1 | Claragh Cunningham | Ardee | Trumpet | Aria |
| 2 | Aoibheann Murray | Ardee | Clarinet | Shepherds Hey |
| 3 | Katie Byrne | Kingscourt | Flute | Under the sea |
| 4 | Sophie O’Brien | Ardee | Clarinet | Colours of the Wind |
| 5 | Darragh McCabe | Drogheda | Cornet | James Bond |
| Under 14 | ||||
| 1 | Brian O’Malley | Lourdes | Cornet | Lonely Steppes |
| 2 | Meaghan Platt | Kingscourt | Flute | Alla Sicliane |
| 3 | Aine Byrne | Kingscourt | Flute | Farewell |
| 4 | Shane Clinton | Ardee | Trumpet | Aria |
| Under 16 | ||||
| 1 | Feargal Twomey | Drogheda | Cornet | Chanson Napolitaine |
| 2 | Sam Blake | Drogheda | Cornet | Tournament Galop |
| 3 | Sean Toner | Lourdes | Euphonium | All Through the Night |
| 4 | Kayleigh Jane Kearns | Lourdes | Eb Horn | The Swan |
| Under 18 | ||||
| 1 | Ellen Taaffe | Drogheda | Cornet | Die Tapferkeit |
| Open | ||||
| 1 | Mark Newman | Lourdes | Cornet | My Love is like a Red Red Rose |
| 2 | David Lamb | Navan | Baritone | Andante & Scherzo |
Ardee Concert Band Annual General Meeting
Our AGM will take place on Monday 13th February at 8pm sharp in our bandroom, Ashwalk, Ardee. Everyone welcome, all members, parents of u-18’s are asked to attend this important meeting.
If your a parent/Guardian and can help out at anytime in the year we’d love to hear from you, there’s no need to join a committee, just give us your number! We’re always great full for extra help as our organization is so big and successful.
Ardee Concert Band are supported by the Arts Council, music Network and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
BAFTA AWARD WINNER
Last night Ardee Concert Band were nominees for the first time in the fifth annual Baile Atha Fheirdia Traders Association Awards (BAFTAS).
We were in the running to be crowned best Community-Involved group in Ardee alongside Dee Hub, St. Mary’s GAA, Ardee & District Athletics Club and Ardee Hospice.
The winner was announced and with great joy, our chairman Mr. Dermot Murray was in attendance to pick up & accept the prize on behalf of the band, alongside other band members attending the gala event in the Nuremore Hotel, Carrickmacross. This was one of 3 categories open to public voting, and the members were both shocked and astounded as they were announced as the winners by Ardee Trader John Hennessy.
Photo credits: Adrian Crawley and thisisardee.ie
Other winners on the night included Peter Callaghan, Noelle Douglas, McGoeys Pharmacy among many many others. The full news round up can be found on This is Ardee Full Article on 2017 BAFTA AWARDS
Ardee Concert Band are supported by the Arts Council, Music Network, and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
Dates for your Diary 2017
Sunday the 19th of Feburary.
North East Region Solo & Ensemble
Competition, Bohemian Centre, Ardee.
Saturday / Sunday the 8th/9th of April.
National Band Championships, Solstice theatre, Navan.
Wednesday the 16th to 20th of August.
Gormanston (Summer School of Music, 18+ only)
Ardee Concert Band are supported by the Arts Council, Music Network, and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.